competition cable

[Idaman323]

is the competition cable just a custom made serial cable? If so, how long does it need to be?

[thoughtful]

its a db-15 cable and u dont have to make it , in every driver station there is one. You take your OI(operator Interface) and just plug the competition cable, which is already in the driver station, into your competition port; this will power ur OI and take care of everything else.

[Josh Hambright]

Originally Posted by Idaman323

is the competition cable just a custom made serial cable? If so, how long does it need to be?

Like stated above, the competition cable is not something you have to worry about making, and like stated above it is at every driver station and plugs into the competition port of your OI.

The only thing you have to do as far as the competition port goes is make sure that you can plug and unplug the cable from the port, and that nothing else is connected into the port, piggy backing, splitting, or extending the port, the cable must be plugged directly into the port during FIRST sanctioned competition.

The competition port is what IFI's field controller uses to control your robot, it controls color, channel, autonomous, user control, disable, etc. Some of the features of this port have been documented although much of it is still a mystery as IFI doesn't want the information released publicly. Search for 'competition port' or 'dongle' on here and you can probably find more info about the port if your interested.

[408Oxidation]

He said it all ^^^^
You don't need the cable unless u want to test your autonomous code. However, there's always another way of testing the autonomous mode...I can't remember what thread it was in, but this is what we're using...
Set team number to 0000
Plug in tether
Unplug tether
Or, you can always make the dongle according to the instructions online...

[Justin_302]

there is a way to make the competition port an autonomous on/off, disable, and enable switch. we did it with two of the "nuke switches"...it works well and looks really cool

[Jeff Rodriguez]

Originally Posted by oneangrydwarf

The competition port is what IFI's field controller uses to control your robot, it controls color, channel, autonomous, user control, disable, etc.

This year it's also going to connect your radio transmitter.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Ogre

This year it's also going to connect your radio transmitter.

Please explain.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Ogre

This year it's also going to connect your radio transmitter.

I would assume that was how it was at the UTC scrimmage, which is often a testing place for the official FIRST fields.

If this is the case, however, rule <R65> is wrong, or at least misleading.

<R65> The Operator Interface Console designed by your team must fit on the 69” wide by 12” deep shelf in the Alliance Station and the radio modem connected to the Operator Interface must be able to reach the mounting bracket on the operator stations. Be sure to leave at least 48” of slack in the 9-pin cable.

[dez250]

In an attempt to eliminate some team issues during competitions IFI and Hatch Technology (The Guys who did this years field electronics) came up with a design which allows the use of only a central radio tower [near the field] still only having a connection to the teams directly in the drivers station to your comp port.

The tower [from the back]:


The Team Radios and backup:


Look for a little more information in an upcoming Team Update.